Augury
by Altered910
Summary: Maybe there was more to the life of a hero than fighting crime. Perchance a criminal's thought process wasn't always logical. And perhaps there was more to this endeavor than a horde of monsters.


Summary: Maybe there was more to the life of a hero than fighting crime. Perchance a criminal's thought process wasn't always logical. And perhaps there was more to this endeavor than a horde of monsters.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the shows in this story. I own only Leia Sol, an original character (don't worry; she doesn't like Danny or Robin too much.)

Warning: Violence, some language and blood, and a surprise if you read all the way through.

_Also, flames are welcome; I find them amusing in the highest._

**Edit 6/11/12- **I edited the story a bit and made it neater. Thanks to the over five-hundred people who have read this.

_A heart lost cannot be twice taken – Unknown Author_

The sky was laden with an ominous purple, the color swirled with an equally ominous green. Electric green eyes, a purer form of the sky's shade, glared up at the clouds, testifying his particularly angry mood through furrowed eyebrows.

Danny Phantom's feet were about 5 yards off the roof of the nearest building. The state of _his_ town was infuriating him beyond reason, and though he was working on a solution, the getting-there state of his city was more than enough to endlessly keep his anger present. Not only was his anger always present, it always seemed to be growing, and that resulted in a similarly increased lack of control on his powers.

One of his partners in the mess stood below him, actually on the building, surveying, not the resentful sky – it hadn't changed for weeks; it wouldn't now, or at all until they fixed this mess - but the streets. There had been one more stuck in this mess with them, and the boy wonder was eager to see her return. His current companion became, for all intents and purposes, mute whenever he caught sight of the clouds. A quick change in location was all he wanted.

With an annoyed sigh that told the ghost he was fed up, he threw one of his many grappling hooks to the building across, and climbed over. The building they were at wouldn't be remaining safe for very long, and as the least mobile of the group, he needed to get a head start before the others.

"Phantom, I'm going to be going on ahead, you know the location, right?" A nod of affirmation was his only response - the internally raging eyes had moved to roaming over the somehow visible city, scrutinizing the buildings that had fallen to rubble in their past fights and those of the city's haunts. "Tell Leia, would you?" Hoping he would do it, either verbally or otherwise, Robin turned to leave.

It wasn't long before the spectre was out of sight. Robin understood his feelings – he'd been the same against Slade and the manipulative bastard's numerous attacks on Jump City – but the silence from the usually loud boy itched and rubbed Robin the wrong way. He idly wondered, as he glided over the ruined elementary on the east side of town, how his guardian and the Justice League would handle their current situation. _Probably way better than we are._

_Ghosts_, Robin scoffed. If he hadn't been living with a halfa and an NEB, both of whom fought them on a regular basis, he would've needed proof that these entities existed – after all, there were far too many maniacs in the world that were obsessed with ridiculous things - before he listened to anything else they said seriously. His experiences, however, now said otherwise.

An inhuman bellow from a few streets to his right had Robin crouching down behind a plastic shed, torn in half and scattered, while inwardly cursing his inability to notice the accursed beasts like he normally could anything else. Whatever they were threw off his normally sharp perception.

Leia Sol, the party's most traveled, said they most resembled a bunch of spirit forms she'd once met in modern day Uzbekistan, a long time ago. She'd simply called them blanks, as there had been no individuality or sensation other than existing. While the creatures they were fleeing were individualistic, though only so much, they were more than enough to give the two inexperienced a feel of those 'blanks'.

Robin's breath was catching in his throat as he tried to lower his heartbeat. These things caused an inexplicable something in his stomach whenever he met one. He was loath to call it fear. Though he was hiding, he was about five stories up. The creature waddled up the below street, though whether it was on a whim or because it had somehow known Robin was there, the boy wonder didn't know. He felt his body reach the point of calm he'd been working it towards, and he extorted a building mirror to analyze the creature that may or may not be stalking him.

It was still as hideous as its brethren. Then again, he had never been fond of Beast Boy's game monsters. Most of the orcs, for that is what he privately call them, were dark in color. It wasn't like they were all grays and blacks, there were reds, blues, greens. Rather, a better description of the colors would be that they faded, but instead of going light, the color range went in reverse, getting darker, duller, and dirtier than the bright colors of humans. The one roving below was a cameo-like green that clashed with the creams and pallid grays of the city. This particular beast resembled an overgrown chameleon, with the roaming beady eyes and everything. The back was ridged with outlandish scales, a few shades darker than the scales that covered the rest of its body. On top of it being boorish from the thick scales he could see from five stories up, the creature also looked rather heavy, as though it had just gorged itself on another. The creature ambled from one leg to another in a drawn out manner, though it could have moved much faster, Robin was sure, if it spotted another meal. With the intent he thought he saw in those vagrant eyes, Robin's suspicion that it was hunting him or something else was growing.

Early on in this entire ordeal, the team of three agreed that whatever these entities were, they weren't the usual ethereal beings of Amity Park. Danny Phantom, the one most used to fighting ghosts, said that something felt off. He later clarified it after a battle won as a lack of something that every ghost has: an obsession. He described after looking at the corpse of one, and his words would ironically haunt Robin forever. '_There's a hole here that isn't supposed to be. Ghosts are dead, not broken.'_

There was another thing about these orcs: they seemed to have no qualms about eating other orcs. One of their first encounters was one, also a chameleon shaped one, with another halfway into its mouth, the humanoid legs sticking out. Most of the orcs they had encountered had resembled animals to an extent, the chameleons being the most extreme, but there were a few humanoids, too. Some were even capable of speech; though, it wasn't something any of them could begin to comprehend.

He sincerely hoped that the orc moved on; he didn't want to risk what killing one would bring. It was highly advisable that a fight with an orc(s) was avoided, as upon death, each one seemed to emit a call that drew its brethren to the corpse, and inevitably, to the one who had killed it. With his comrades, at full energy, it was hard to beat the number that their first kill had drawn- Robin could almost swear they numbered over twenty. Solo, exhausted as he was, and unsure of just how many were nearby, the boy wonder felt it would be a fool's dare to confront the monster.

Lady Luck, however, had other plans. An airborne figure was flying towards him, from the direction he'd been heading before his most recent encounter. It possessed a fully black body and bat-like wingspan, and its face resembled a bleached white mask that's structure was a rip off of the human face; its facial structures were too pronounced, its features too sharp. The creature had the full advantage of flight; the full ability of spotting him. And it did just that.

With a victorious cry, the creature visibly sped up and drew the chameleon's attention to him, one eye singling in on the shed half he had used as cover.

Since his time around Leia, and the impossible frustration of this entire current situation, Robin had taken to cursing where people couldn't hear him. Not that the only two people who could cared; Danny had done the same, though not nearly so quietly.

Finding his thoughts a distraction, he put them in his neat little mental box labeled 'for later', and set his body on autopilot, running in a roundabout way to avoid the bat closing in on him and the chameleon making it's way up the wall. He had approximately ten seconds before the chameleon arrived, and thirty before the bat. Unfortunately the bat would be much harder to lose than the dawdler, as the latter wasn't so easily mobile, and, from what he knew, couldn't jump.

As the chameleon would be easiest to lose, Robin set about moving himself to buildings far away. Up close, his abilities kicked in again, and he honestly despised the oily and slimy feel the orcs' auras left him with, though the ability to sense when they were near would have been taken without hesitation. He was soon flying from rooftop to crumbling roof top as he had done before, though this time at a much more rapid pace. _Hopefully I'm the only one encountering problems._ His partners could definitely hold their own, but they were all tired. The resources of this town were beginning to run low, at least in the areas they'd been dwelling. Soon, they really wouldn't be able to stay there, and things would go from 'semi-bad to way worse', as Danny had put it.

He saw a few other creatures join his pursuer in the sky, and groaned internally. His communicator flashed from its place on his utilities belt, but he ignored it mostly, sending it a simple glance to confirm his suspicions; the light was green, the other two were at their newest hideout. Though the electricity was out, the communicators were inexplicably still functioning. An unconscious relief filled him even as he shoved it away. Leave emotions for when he wasn't running for his life from mindless monsters.

The adrenaline is all that kept him running, and his perseverance led the pursuers to give up, for now. He had managed to get to their refuge after an approximate few hours of tag around the same eleven or twelve blocks. As he walked in, he saw two heads raise and tensed forms before they took in the outline of their guest. Lightened blue eyes, whose eyebrow-ish friends had finally given their northern neighbor a break, scrunched back up. "What took you so long, Robin?" His adolescent voice had dropped low enough in his fury that it could almost be compared to a growl.

"A bat found me and brought friends," was the exhausted reply. The burnt out Titan padded over to the third, unoccupied bed, and collapsed face first. Masked eyes appraised the room, now having enough time and little enough pressure to do so. It appeared he had picked a family's house, one with an adolescent teenage boy who had, at one point, occupied this very room. Posters of a rocker girl with flaming blue hair, presumably called 'Ember', were on at least three of the walls, while football and pictures of a blonde and blue jock were strewn about. Seems the orcs had found this room repulsive enough that they'd let it alone.

"And you didn't call for help because…?"

"It would have been a waste of time. We were moving pretty swiftly. Had I stopped to call you, they would've caught and gotten me. Besides, if I run them enough, they generally back off." Robin's appraisal of the room finished, his face was turned back into the pillow. He really didn't feel like staring into Leia's blank face, or Danny's furious blue eyes.

Robin didn't know which dismayed him more.

He also didn't know which colored set of Danny's eyes he'd rather have glaring at him.

"How do you know that, though? We don't know nearly enough about these creatures as I'm comfortable with, and I normally am fine with rushing in blind! They could change as easily as you do identities! You're, like, the one I thought would think of that first, apprentice to the detective Batman! Obviously not, if you're taking such a dunderheaded risk." At the accusation of his being incapable and the mention of his former guardian, Robin jumped up, all fatigue and trepidation forgotten. Danny had apparently stalked over, his feet an inch off the floor. Leia remained in her place, allowing the two to fight it out.

Danny's glare was aimed, almost off, at Robin's domino mask, slightly down to account for the height difference*. Danny was only slightly taller, an inch or three, but the difference was enough to matter, and it frustrated Robin. "What's your problem anyways? I made it back didn't I? It's a thing of the past!" Though Robin knew that he wouldn't have said that normally, there was something about the environment that got to him.

"Not if it's going to continue affecting the future. Now you're all tired and if we need to move for some reason, you may hold us back. I don't know how things are back with the Titans, but when you're in a group, you're supposed to be able to hold your own! Going off and tiring yourself is not holding your own! And anyways, we were worried about you. At the very least, you could've sent us a message once in a while. You could've been dead or dying and we'd've been none the wiser!" Danny's voicing was straining against the harsh whisper that dictated it. Can't give away their position by screaming their lungs out, after all.

"If you were so worried, you could have sent ME a message, you know!" A hand came between their chests, which had been nearing in a dangerous way – had they touched, neither could say whether a night a fight would break out. Leia had crept over without either's awareness. Robin and Danny were pushed onto their respective beds.

"Alright, that's enough. You both are obviously too stressed, so I'll take watch tonight." She chucked a few items into their laps. "There's dinner. Get some sleep, and if I find you're arguing – I WILL know – you both are going to be in trouble. Is that understood?" Glares at the other ensued. Leia tapped her foot once. The two jumped and nodded. The woman smirked. "Good. 'Night." She slipped out the window and up the wall, both boys watching her exit.

"That person is entirely too frightening for my tastes. Your friend Raven may find a close friend in her."

"Maybe."

As the tension began to drain out the open window, the awkwardness of remaining in the same room as someone you regularly disagreed with began to set in.

"Hey, you still awake?" The whisper from Danny was sudden, and as Robin's head snapped up to gaze at him, he noticed Danny's eyes stubbornly avoiding his. Was what he had to say really that hard to ground out? "You guys… Ugh, how do I put this? I've been in a situation many times where people around me have been in danger. I hate not being able to do anything to prevent it, is all. Which is what you, not contacting us, did. So, uh, I guess I'm sorry, even though I still feel like I'm right."

Robin glared at the other. He was making to big of a deal out of this. "…I shouldn't have to tell you all the time. Or have you forgotten that I can hold my own?" Robin paused. He wanted the weight of what he said next to sink into the other boy. Maybe they wouldn't have this argument again. "I refuse to fall before I've gotten out of this hellhole. My team still needs me. And I didn't ask for your help, because I don't believe I needed it." Signaling he was done with the conversation, Robin moved to lie on his side. His exhaustion let him close his eyes and relax somewhat, even visibly so Danny could tell he'd accepted his half-assed apology.

Danny's apology, as well as his earlier accusations, had stricken too close to something his team had told him several times, and something he himself had experienced. Thinking of them brought on a pang of what Robin could almost call homesickness. Most times came when things were becoming too hard to continue on his own even when he persisted, oftentimes in the pursuit of Slade. Was he really so distant that it was even affecting his team and comrades here? Normally he wouldn't see a problem with it, but he'd been living with Danny and Leia twenty-four/seven, and had seen first hand Danny's hero complex; Robin knew the other teenage hero wouldn't let him go on in his lonesome.

Whenever Robin found something wrong with himself, at least something that affected other people, he tried to fix it. If his being solitary was putting him and his associates in danger, he would try to change that. If being more open with these two helped them as a whole, then he would just have to give it a shot. Maybe he won't be all buddy-buddy like Cyborg and Beast Boy, or as openly trusting as Starfire, but he could definitely try.

Starfire. He hadn't thought of her much since he'd been trapped inside this dark Amity, hadn't had the time to contemplate his friends, wherever they were. He hoped to any deity he'd ever heard of over the years that they were somewhere outside this place. The only one with enough guts to take out these barbarians was Raven, and she wouldn't have lasted long, her magic was so crippling.

He liked Starfire, he admitted to himself. He liked all his – well, most – of his allies, but he liked Starfire especially. She was everything he was not, his opposite in almost every aspect, and yet able to keep up with him, to drive him forward and keep him getting stronger. A rival without any competition. He also found her attractive, but in a way he found difficult to desc- Before his internal admissions could develop much more, he heard a soft snore that had begun to associate with rest. His roommate had slipped into dreamland.

Robin growled at himself. The halfa had had a point. He was Batman's former sidekick, by extension his son. He was a detective at heart, wanting only cold, hard fact and the occasional instinct to get by in crime fighting. He was the most logical on his team, save for Raven, who had different means of getting the information she wanted. Taking such a risk as relying on the past trends of an unknown species was a risk worthy of being called stupid. And the teenage thunderbolt had needed someone else to point that out to him. Exhaustion and fatigue were no excuses for his instincts and reasoning to dull, especially when they could be the things that kept him alive, and he'd needed Danny to show him that. He wouldn't say someone who he didn't know intimately, though Danny wasn't far off that list. A constant death threat was a great bond-forger.

In his sleep, Robin heard Danny breath a word. "Sam…" Ah. He recalled the girl. She and Raven had hit off almost immediately when the two had met. Both displayed an annoyance for the comedy duo his team sported, with the computer geek Tucker cheering them on in the background. The two girls were more alike than Robin liked dwelling on. Danny probably had a soft spot for her. For her sake and his, Robin hoped that she too had escaped this onslaught. He hoped that they were the only ones here, trapped, with a distinct lack of their modern luxuries.

Robin shifted onto his back and tucked his hands behind his head, staring through the ceiling in thought. Since the sky had gotten its darkened colors, they hadn't seen any other living beings, other than the orcs. Robin shuddered at the thought that they'd been eaten but shrugged it off almost immediately. Amity Park had at least 50,000 inhabitants, all hardened from the constant ghost attacks. There was absolutely no way such hardened folk, especially the likes of the Fenton family, were eaten so quickly. If they were here, they definitely would have seen someone by now. He was certain all the bystanders had been moved out of the field he currently resided in. They had to be.

He couldn't, unfortunately, say the same for his teammates. For all he knew, the person who'd made the dimension and set the monsters loose could have been targeting all heroes in the area. He just hoped that if they were here, he thought almost feebly, they had managed to keep themselves safe.

Morning came too soon for the both of them. In the world surrounded by dark, antagonized clouds, there was no point of day and night. They relied on their bodies to tell them when they needed food and rest and a bathroom. The whole town was without electricity, plumbing, and any sort of communication, so they had no clocks to give them any semblance of time. Again, it was all reliance on instincts.

Leia slid in from the window as the boys roused from their beds. "So Danny, where do you want go?" As the 'owner' of this town, Danny definitely knew the most about it. As the edge of the barrier was just outside the city limits, they'd assumed that there was something that the villain wanted within the city.

The trio had spent the time they'd been there thus far trying to establish a routine. They still looked for people and anything that told them about this place, but there focuses had been primarily on survival. Now that that had all been established, it was time to begin seriously digging,

"Honestly? Where I want to head towards is the power plant, at the southernmost point in town. I was captured there once or twice, and they were developing radioactive materials as well as anti-ghost weapons. Their test subject was the Red huntress on one of her many escapades to capture and rid the world of me. I haven't been able to get over there, though. I also have this nagging feeling that the hollows** really like those radioactive materials, and though I'd rather avoid it at all costs, I know we'll have to go there eventually. I think it might be best if we go before any extreme mutations happen, and then they really become a handful. Another area would be my house, if it's still standing, and more specifically the basement. There was a machine my dad built that opens into an alternate reality called the ghost world, and I wanted to know of it still worked like that, or if it does something else now, or if it's just dead. However, it may also be infested, if it still functions. They're the two places I've wanted to get to, now that we're closer. But both locations have a high potential of being risky and dangerous." The warning was clear: turn back if you're scared.

The other two listened intensely and nodded in agreement. They'd already checked out Casper High, now only half standing after a stray had found and attacked them. In the days preceding this nightmare, Casper had been a popular location for spirits to haunt. They'd also attempted to get at the actual Amity Park, another popular place for ghosts to infest. Now, another type of being haunted them.

"I'd say we go to your house. It's at a lesser risk of being swamped, and after our lack of locating anyone who could help us, it would be best to assume we're the only ones working at this case. Whether or not there are, we need to handle this like we're on our own, or we'll never finish this." The finality in his voice left the other two agreeing with him. He took a split second to bask in the power of their willingness to follow him. The only normal one in the entirety of the Team Titans bummed Robin out at times, so his contributions to any group he participated in that were taken into consideration and accepted were appreciated and used. Then his sense of duty came back and flooded the tiny triumph out of his brain.

The team once more shoved off. "Leia, what form are you in right now?" Robin glanced at the female running beside him.

"A homunculus."

From his flight path, Phantom grunted in confusion.

"A being born of alchemy. A legendary alchemist by the name of Paracelsus claimed to have made one, and while I don't physically display the traits attributed to his particular creation, the basis and creature are the same."

"So this parcel guy actually succeeded?"

"Paracelsus, and yes, or someone must have."

"…Why that particular species?"

"Because it was what first came to me at changing time."

The group traveled in silent caution after that, as they started heading into areas that they knew were infested. Before long, the large, steel ball on the Fenton's roof was coming into view. Danny, slightly ahead in his eagerness, stopped cold.

"Holy shit…" Danny's shoulders had slumped, and his body gently descended, landing his body with his knees folded underneath him, and his arms were limp at his side. His ghostly tan face was ashen, as, Robin was positive, was the rest of his covered body. His bangs seemed to mimic his emotions, hanging limply in his face, though his eyes were glued to his former-house.

Robin and Leia grimaced at the estate in a similar fashion. While Robin struggled with approximating exactly how many orcs were crawling in and out of the building, Leia knelt at Phantom's side, and placed a hand on his shoulder. The place where his room had been had completely crumbled in, and you could see into the hallway beyond the number of beasts that went about the house like Danny had done for his entire life. They clung to the brick and paneled walls all the way down the street. Danny had been inaccurate in saying it was less likely to be overrun; there was more living flesh than building visible.

Robin, having given up on the number of orcs – there were just so _many_ – was having a painful flashback, from a time when the Titan's Tower had been completely thrashed, taken over by the enemy, again and again. He understood that he needed to be here for Danny, who's just lost even more of his home, and for possibly the first time, too. Promises in the middle of the night remembered or not, he owed his support to Danny.

"We'll get it back, Danny. All of it." His voice was vehement, full of a conviction he was just beginning to discover he had for someone that was outside his usual circle of association. The bright green gaze, even more so than usual, turned into Robin's face. Robin felt a little something in him blip, faster than even he could recognize, at the wounded look in his eyes. Then the barred green eyes steeled, the tears were banished, and their owner grew just a little stronger from those words.

"But for now, we need to get away of here. I'm surprised we haven't been attacked yet, and I don't want to test our luck much longer." Leia's voice ripped through the veil of the moment. Danny nodded, and allowed the two of them to draw him to his feet.

They were quick to get out of the vicinity of the house, but something told Danny they'd be coming back for it sooner or later. His currently green gaze shifted to the two who were unable to fly, and were scaling the buildings below him, their pace enough that he didn't have to slow down. What were they, the three of them? He knew they were, at the very least, allies. Their circumstances assured that. But Danny had a painful feeling that he may not see much of his new colleagues after they escaped. Danny refused to think otherwise; they WOULD get out.

He knew he'd be able to keep in contact at least a little with Robin; Raven and Sam's friendship – or was it a gothic empathy? – would promote that. But what about Leia? She wasn't a hero, just a wanderer. Which threw off Robin's theory of the target being heroes, unless she had done something that elicited the malefactor thinking of her in a heroic light. He was afraid to ask, though. For all their struggles together in this short period of time, she seemed unapproachable. Like, if he asked too much, she would simply turn him away.

Despite their fights, Danny definitely felt closer to Robin. He had shown a human side, one that proved there was something normal about him. But Leia had only displayed a cool intelligence on a blank plate, and he knew that if it was putting him on edge, then the Boy Wonder must've been just as wary, if not more so.

Robin wasn't a coward like him though, and a confrontation was imminent.

"For now, we need to find a way into your house. Whatever it was that was attracting those things, it sure was doing a good job. If we can figure it out-"

"-We have bait for a trap, and can learn more." Robin finished. They'd stopped about five blocks away from the supposed nesting grounds.

"Do you think maybe there are some people boarded in there? The hollows seem to come after us like mosquitoes whenever they spot us. If it were one of my family members, they would go right there; it's protected us from non-human invasions before." Danny sincerely hoped that he was wrong, though. He didn't want anyone else to be trapped in this hell like they were. If there were people in there, however, then Danny wouldn't leave them behind.

"I'm not saying I won't help them, and do everything I can for them, but anything less than my team would be deadweight, and they aren't the type to hole themselves up anywhere unless one of them is injured badly."

"What do ya mean deadweight?" Danny was stalking back up to them, but Leia halted him before the fight could escalate this time. When angry eyes looked up to her, she simply shook her head.

"I don't have time to humor your deplorable arguments right now. We need to establish a goal to work towards; standing here is only going to get us killed. As I would rather not die any time soon, we need to figure something out. Quick." She added sharply, as Danny's mouth opened to argue.

"What about the-"

Leia shook her head again. "If your house was that overwhelmed, I struggle to envision how massive the population inside is, as it is more than likely similarly beset with the animals; hollows, as Danny is fond of. As much as getting out of here is a priority of ours, escaping alive is a necessity that resides above that goal. Risking that population is grounds for suicide, if only for the supposition that there may be some people in there. It is probably over for them, if they are indeed present. I can guarantee you this: there are none. No human can excite the beasts as much as the ones at your house are. I suspect Robin's bait is at play here."

Robin was seething; this woman was being far too vague and far too insensitive. "What do you suggest, then?" His teeth were clenched. They only had this one lead. If she was advising against it, then she damn well better have a good replacement. As much as he didn't want any deadweight, the possibility of leaving people to die was too gruesome to think about, even if she was right. It might be impossible to get to anyone inside that crowd, but weren't heroes made for solving the impossible?

She looked down into the mask that she'd never seen him without. "Think, Danny said there was another place we could go look at. Ah, you see it now. Yes, the plant. What do these two locations have in common? At least, according to what Danny has said? If we were to put aside Danny's theory for a moment, what else would we find? I'm willing to gamble that the plant is also infested with these beasts, and I don't even need to see it. If you need to find bait, it's probably already been arrested by these things' hunger for it. We can't move the bait, but maybe we can draw the beasts to it, and keep them out of our way."

Their fury began dissipating at the ice queen's assertion. Her logic was once again frustrating them. But then Robin arrived at his own revelation. "…Both places have ghost hunting equipment, right? Do you think that could be it?"

Danny simply shrugged. "Don't know, maybe? What could these things want with ghost hunting equipment? Your guess is as good as mine. Are we gonna go?" A shake of a blonde head had the boys once again gritting teeth.

"No. Danny, I'm going to give you a solo; you're going in, intangible, to test Robin's hypothesis. You're the only one who can get in unnoticed as of right now. I can't change for a little while yet." When it became clear the three of them would be working together, Leia had been quick to concede that she could only change once every twelve or so hours. With a straight face, of course; she hadn't displayed any sort of embarrassment at said admission, simply stated it.

"A solo?" Danny was used to running solo, well, before now, but taking this on solo would kind of contradict the entire reason behind his argument the previous night with Robin. Robin's "eyebrow" was raised, obviously thinking along the same lines. Then he shrugged. Oh right, "deplorable arguments." Well, as long as Robin wouldn't say anything, but…

"Fine, but if it becomes too much to handle _alone,_ I'm calling for assistance. Good?" That elicited a subtle flinch from Robin and a scowl to blossom on his face. The woman simply sighed and nodded, but the ghost boy thought he might have seen her lips twitch a bit. He believed so, anyways, and was willing to take any ground she gave them.

"I despise how much we're moving, though. Why can't this be in a smaller area?" Danny's complaints, though few and far between, were another thing that constantly grated on Robin's nerves. Not only were they valid, they were good questions. This one, however, could be temporarily answered with a witty remark.

"You didn't look at the job description of a hero, did you, Phantom? Rule number 3 of crime-fighting: the villains never make the job easy. It's part of the felon's handbook, or so I've heard." Beast Boy and Cyborg may have been proud of that comeback. He made a note to give that to them whenever they sat down to have their 'clever remarks' conversation.

The tenseness was dissolved in that way, with banter to cover up for one another getting apprehensive, for the ten minutes it took to get there: five to get there, another five to scope out their pathway for any potential monsters that may wish to eat them.

All in all, the trip was short, almost too much so.

"I feel like I'm risking the other half of my life here. You owe me." Leia nodded, and said she'd hold him to it. Robin shoved a modified communicator at him - it hooked to his ear, and kept his hands clear, as his hazmat suit had no pockets.

"You better come back half-alive, then. Last thing I want to deal with is a full-on whiny ghost. You may haunt me afterwards for it, and I've had enough hauntings to last me my lifetime."

"You humans have such strange conversations."

"Half-human, thank you very much." Danny threw a slightly agitated grin, shoulders tightening again, before he lost his visibility and presumably flew off. Leia tugged on Robin's sleeve and drew him to the building's lip. He silently agreed, and knelt down to observe the masses of orcs that were practically drowning the laboratory.

The dark conglomeration of bodies were writhing over the lower levels, in a way that disgusted Robin and reminded him of the rats he saw often down in the sewers. At this distance, it was hard to register individual shapes and color, though the occasional red or limb hung out awkwardly for the two pairs of eyes to see. Had Robin not been used to such repulsive and appalling sights, he was sure he would have turned away. As it was, it was all he could do to focus on the factory and not the bodies thrashing at one another.

Robin scanned the windows for any sign of his glowing companion or their reason for coming. He thought he may have seen a white aura he'd come to associate with Danny's ghost form, but he didn't think that the halfa would be willing to drop his stealth in the midst of all the accursed devils residing just outside the cement walls. Maybe it was an orc in the building?

The roof dwellers didn't have long to wait. A barely there disturbance of the air, flying towards them told that their acquaintance was returning. His form became a little more visible as it neared, and Fenton slumped onto the roof tile, hands splayed before him and his breath coming out in ragged, drawn out gasps. Robin's suspicions as to his hallucination became a little less ambiguous.

"Go on Robin, I know you want to say it." Robin shrugged a little.

"Fine. What happened, you look like you've seen a ghost. You didn't look into a mirror, right?" He threw that last line in there in hopes of alleviating the halfa's stress. He always seemed to lighten up at Robin's stabs of humor. It worked, though only minimally.

"Nevermind, I'm regretting giving you that. Yeah, I did, though not in any mirror. One from my past, actually. I only saw a glimpse of him, though, so I can't be sure if he's really there or not. I had the info I needed, though, so I got the hell out of there." His breath was evening out, and Robin noticed a rather fine trembling that was fading away gradually.

"Care to share?"

"Rather not, actually. Drop it, I'll tell you later. Let's leave; those things are grossing me out." _Join the club, buddy,_ was Robin's mental response to that. "Where to?"

"First, was Robin right?" Leia raised a vague hand in Robin's direction, but her eyes were focused on Danny's hardened green eyes.

A snow powdered eyebrow rose, and its owner turned to the aforementioned. "Not bad, birdie boy. I ran a quick test on the other side, dropped an older model on the assembly, and they went absolutely berserk. And," as Robin looked like he had twocents, "you shouldn't look compliment horses in the eye; they may take it back."

"Don't call me birdie boy." Robin grumbled, as though he hadn't heard him. "Should I feel relieved?"

"I don't know. The entire inside was a mess; I couldn't determine what they had wanted, other than the weapons they went mad for."

Leia glanced at Robin. "Were there any body parts? We haven't seen any people, and this would be the ideal location for a lock-in. I doubt it could hold very many of the city, but a few is better than none."

Danny flinched. "There were signs of recent human activities. I can't say how recent, though it looked like there are varying degrees that can be coined to the word. I wasn't sure though. They were mostly around the main factory room. But, and don't hold me to it, if the ghost I mentioned before is really there, then I'd rather leave him."

Robin's eyes narrowed on his companion; Leia's eyes simply demanded an answer to the heartless change in character. Danny glanced between them before simply complying. "The guy who I believe to have seen is one I consider my greatest foe to date." He shook his head at the melodramatic statement. IT belonged in a movie or the TV, not in real life. "His name's Vlad Masters, a psychopathic billionaire who has a thing for messing with my life. He's a friggin' fruitloop."

"I'm afraid that is much better than you, my little badger." A biting voice came from below the lip of the building. An apparition followed the words not long after. The spirit was dressed in complete opposition to Danny, black boots and gloves contrasting Danny's white ones, a white hazmat suit to Danny's black one. His skin was an almost mint color, but faded, and it seemed to ooze a slimy feeling bordering on malevolence; Robin would come to associate it with the color of ghost skin, and often pondered why Danny hadn't turned out the same way. His gray-streaked black hair stood up in horn-like formation, no use of gel evident. What horrified him the most, though, was definitely the red which bled throughout his entire eye; he looked like was enduring the world's worst case of pinkeye. Regarding the halfa in front of them with a cool eye, which was strange because red was such a warm color, something he saw must have pleased him, for his smile broke enough to bare some fang at the group.

"Though I must say, little weasel, you just increased my appreciation of you." He continued on, either unaware or uncaring of the scrutiny of his audience. "You would rather _leave_ me in this nuttish abyss? That's a rather callous statement coming from you, little Daniel. Surely you see some of our similarities, and they simply seem to be increasing." Though he meant those words, Vlad also loved to see him tortured by their effect on him.

Phantom's shoulders were hunching up, his invisible haunches raised. A nearly feral growl tore itself from his throat. "You and I are nothing alike, you fruitloop! When I get older, I won't be a lonely billionaire with only a cat and a bunch of machinery to keep me company. I won't hound after some teenage boy who's only a little similar to me, or chase after the boy's married mother!"

This clearly infuriated the man; his composure slipped in an instant. "That wasn't my fault! Your bumbling dolt of a father was the reason behind my accident in the first place!"

And so began the verbal war. "Even so, you could've tried harder to get back up. Even better, you could have moved on. Obsessing over someone, especially the mother of two kids, is just wrong, especially if they're aware of it. Do you know how weird the past two years have been, with you drooling over my mom's shoulders, as well as my own, begging us to come live with you?" His voice slightly cracked towards the end. Not that Robin blamed him. He'd met Maddie Fenton; she was perfectly happy with the life she led now. No amount of money or obsession would ever change that. He felt a sense of commiseration wash over him for Danny, and surprisingly, camaraderie. What was that about?

"I have good reason. Maddie deserves far better than Jack Fenton. Hah! Even his name sounds ridiculous. You, too. Why not come live with me? I can give you the training no one else can. As the only other halfa by the same creation and creator, we should stick together. I have twenty years more experience than you."

"I sure seem to be doing a fine job on my own, _Vladdy_. Anyways, you don't want just an apprentice; you want me as your son, too. No thank you, I already have a dad I'm perfectly ok with, and he's just outside this field. I'm getting us out of here as soon as I can so that we can go home." Danny huffed. He turned to tell his buddies that they were _leaving_, when he noticed their eyes transfixed on something that should have been a little farther away than it was.

"Oh shit… We were too loud, weren't we?"

"Daniel, watch your mouth! I don't understand the youngsters' obsession with-"

"Dammit, Plasmius, drop it! We've got bigger problems."

"Yeah, like the horde of larger-than-life size insects coming to eat us! I suggest we haul ass!" Leia said, her voice sounded slightly panicked, and her eyes were drawn in another direction. The sky in that direction was just a little darker than the norm they had adopted, and when they focused enough, the males started to see that the extra shading was coming from another army of monsters coming from the east side of town. "You two must've drawn the entirety of their kind from miles around!"

They had the audacity to look feeble, though it wasn't the time for it. The four spread into the city, Vlad coming against Danny's wishes. Robin, starting to feel the pain of the previous day, had trouble keeping up. He narrowly dodged a rapidly advancing beast; an ectoplasmic bolt subdued it quickly. Danny swooped down and grabbed Robin by his forearms.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He yelled at him. He had to turn his face out of the wind, as Danny's pace was enough to blur the dark sky and the contrasting buildings together.

"Saving your butt, that's what."

"Where have the others gone?"

"Lost them when I came back to save you. We'll find them later; right now, we need a safe house." He flew off in the direction of the upper-class citizens.

* * *

><p>The building they found belonged to a classmate of Danny's; he'd dubbed them unfair jocks with a meaner reputation. The defense systems had fallen with the electricity, though the manual locks that were still in place – and required a specific card key and a regular key – were still partially functional. In the end, Danny simply phased them through the wall. The experience left Robin trembling slightly. He shook it off, though, and rounded on Danny.<p>

"What? You aren't going to yell at me? That was a stupid thing I did back there, my past caught up with me. You aren't going to comment, say I told you so? I'm waiting for it." _You'd have every right to._ He added bitterly.

Danny shrugged. "No. I said my piece yesterday, and that's all I'm gonna say. I'm not going to ask for an apology or a thank you either, so don't you dare start on me now. We're safe, and that's all we need to be concerned about right now. Besides," Danny stood from the plush couch to Robin's left and walked past him, laying his hand on Robin's shoulder as he passed, "We're human. We all make mistakes. I'm gonna go check our stocks real quick; I'll be right back." He looked as though he might say more, but went on his way.

Robin stood in silence before settling on the couch again. It didn't matter if he was human; he wasn't supposed to make mistakes. Some may be simple, but others, like today's, could end fatally. Robin had no intention of dying in a place like this.

"Is it always like that? The intangibility thing, I mean."

"Yeah, but it gets old really quickly. I actually once got to the point of not even noticing it. Had to make an excuse as to why I was two feet deep in solid concrete. That was an interesting story…" Danny trailed off, and his eyes told he was remembering the story, though in fondness or spite, Robin couldn't discern.

"I won't ever comment to Raven about that again."

They sat in silence, reminiscing and thinking, shaking off the panic caused by their surprise attackers. Robin thought back onto the conversation between Vlad and Danny. What was it that bugged him about that conversation? It only took his mind a second to come up with the answer.

"I never knew you had someone like him." Robin whispered into the darkness.

"Huh?"

"That Vlad guy. It must be rather creepy and disgusting that a man that age has a thing for your mom, a vendetta against your dad, and an obsession with training you as an apprentice and raising you as a son."

"Yeah. It was really strange at first. I mean, not just the mom thing, but how he reacted to me being a halfa. He blamed it immediately on my father, not me. Then, he automatically assumes I'm a weakling who needs his help, and offers to take me in, all the while saying how I probably wasn't happy with that 'fool' and that I should just come with him, and be his little weapon, and that I should bring my mom when I came. He just took things too far, so I insulted him, he retaliated, and we fought. He still is after the both of us. Earlier should be proof."

_Weapon…_ It hit Robin like a turbine-engine train, and the fact he hadn't this epiphany till just now bothered him.

"Slade… "

"Slate? A rock? What'd that got to do with anything?"

"No, Slade. How that guy was talking to you reminded me of Slade. He's a villain, currently my team's, and most importantly my own, greatest opposition. How Vlad was talking was exactly like how Slade would talk to me. He would use the criminals he set against us to test my skills as well as gain a profit. If I failed, he wasn't any worse off. If I succeeded, well, now he had a potential student and," Here he shuddered, "son.

"The worst part was that once he wanted me, he did anything he could to get me on his side. He poisoned my friends, froze time throughout the entirety of Jump City, he nearly brought on the Apocalypse***. It's all I can do to deal with myself for not getting him behind bars yet. He's a danger to all the people in the world. I once went mad just because I was worried what he would do next. I had help, thankfully, to bring me back, but the experience still haunts me."

Danny nodded, and his entire body followed the action. "I know. Vlad once brought the me from the future to visit. I wouldn't have said it then, but I'll say it now; he was a bastard. His family had died in explosion, and he became bitter and evil. He lost sight of why he'd ever been a hero, and became an unstoppable villain that no one could beat. After I learned that was my future, I worked so hard to change it, I drove myself into the ground. My friends finally knocked some sense into me, but I won't ever forget the look in his eyes when he saw me save them from the same explosion that had taken his own. After that I never saw him again." The both of them were silent after that, for a long time.

The time passed in each other's companies, glancing at the other occasionally, staring down at their boots. Danny's red sneakers held an odd appeal for Robin, as he kept looking at them. Their exhaustion had set in, and nothing could move the boys. They simply spent time lounging on the couches. Their eyes met once. It wasn't an awkward meeting, and in fact, it wouldn't have been any sort of special at all if it weren't for the fact that there _was_ something special, at least in one of their eyes.

_THIS is the path heroes walk._ Danny thought. "I … fear to think about where'd I'd be right now, without my friends and family. Don't you think?" Then he was silent again. At some point, it had physically passed into night, as the boys felt the temperature dropping. Still too tired to move, they simply stayed in the same positions.

Morning, or what they thought was morning, came quicker than normal. A shifting from a ways away in the house stirred the two boys, whose senses were on high alert even during their hibernation. They woke and were on their feet immediately. The shifting sounds stopped. Then they started again, a little faster, a little louder, and worst of all, a little closer.

Danny hurriedly glanced at Robin. "Guess the night guards were a good idea after all, huh? You wanna fly?" Robin nodded hastily, though they really had no choice. Danny's ghost powers were their only tickets out of here.

The beast burst into the room before they could grab all the supplies they would need. But something was wrong. The thing had a strange feature that had yet been seen. The face, what they assumed was like a green mask, had taken on bark-like qualities. The face seemed to be growing angularly around the side of its head, ending in sharp points that were uneven and obtruded a good five inches beyond the thing's skull. The ugly green, reminiscent of the chameleon, was smudged with bruise-like purples and browns. The thing was also panting, crying as though in pain. Right before their eyes, it seemed to implode from the inside, and collapsed where it stood.

The smell that accompanied it wasn't much better. Imagine, if you will, a boot that has been buried in the backyard, hidden under snow for six months, allowing it to fester and rot, only to have to find and throw it away when spring comes. Oh, and don't forget the smelly sock that you left inside it. Yeah, the smell had the two covering their noses while they inched away from it.

As soon as they had stepped through the door, though, it was up and after them again, with an agility that was hard to avoid. More than once, Robin had to use his superior reflexes to knock Danny out of the way of a hit, then had to jump away to avoid a hit himself.

All the while, they never noticed the masses gathering outside. They were literally numbering in the thousands. The colors and shapes among them were also becoming more elaborate. From the dull colors burst more life, and most were no longer vaguely humanoid or bestial; defining traits brought the creatures closer to their identified companions.

As the external groups drew nearer to breaking in, the two boys managed to take down the invader of their temporary safe house. Not that the relief lasted long. "Danny! Quick! Outside!" Danny took no time, after seeing the yard, about grabbing Robin around the waist. Of course, Robin found the time to feel embarrassed about the situation, and, forgetting the thousands coming to eat their flesh drawing ever nearer, started struggling.

"Danny- what are you-?" Danny's hand covered his mouth.

"There's not much time. I can teleport us somewhere once, as the situation calls for it. I need you to hold onto me as tightly as you can, or I may drop you somewhere less than pleasant. Okay?" Robin, stunned, could only nod briskly and comply, all his embarrassed thoughts forgotten. Danny appreciated the confirmation; he would have done it anyways, but confirmation always worked better for him.

The sensation was a bit like splashing into a freezing river, complete with a strong current, after soaking in a hot tub for hours. Robin's entire body became numb, and he felt his body go limp, his eyes unfocused, his breathing slow, all without his conscious ordering them to. He couldn't tell if Danny felt the same, as his senses were so unfocussed, but he could tell the halfa was steering them to safety, his grunts and muscles sliding beneath Robin's own strong arms attested to that.

The transition back to reality was similar to the exit. Instead of splashing into a place of uncertainty, all Robin's senses returned with an adrenaline-pumped clarity. The final trigger was the body that suddenly collapsed in his clasped arms. He felt a slight shock as two familiar rings zoomed up him and the body, but failed to do their job. Danny had collapsed, in a shift between human and ghost.

Robin took a quick scan of the area. Good, looks like they were in the central area. Not only was it the least infested area, it had easy access to anywhere in town. They were actually on the building that the two of them had first come to. Carefully carrying Danny's body into the building, Robin laid his body down on the plushest bed he could find. It was the least he could for the person who had just saved his life.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Danny's subconscious was on high power. Memories of his childhood, middle school, and secret hero life flooded his 'eyes'.<p>

Danny's hand reached into the water fall of memories, falling over and over again. He was searching for something in particular. Well, not in particular, just something happy and exciting that he could use to erase all the pain he felt he was in, though it was more of a dull aching under his 'existence'. It was more like a headache, really, an extremely massive one.

His hand caught a particularly bright strand, and he plunged himself into it. Ah, a more recent memory. It was of when he met the Teen Titans. ****

Danny saw a group of five teenagers walking down the streets, all dressed in rather bright and loud outfits, with the exception of one girl; she had darker clothes then Sam. Beside him, Tucker dropped his PDA, his jaw following suit. "OHMYGODOHMYGOD! IT'S THE TEEN TITANS!" Tucker wasn't the only one to react to the super-powered teens. People around the street were jolted out of their staring trances, and charged the poor teens.

From what Danny and Sam could gather, they were some exceedingly famous heroes from Jump City, somewhere on the Pacific coast. They'd fought numerous villains, often more than once. Some were mega-villains whose plans brought the world's breath to a halt as it prayed that everyone made it out safe. Thankfully, everyone always did.

The one with a strange mask that hid both his eyes calmed the crowd with a hand in the air. "We're here to look for a person named Danny Phantom. Does anyone know how to locate him?" The silent mumbling died out for a second, and then started anew. Paulina Sanchez waved her hand to draw the attention to her.

"Umm… Ghost boy only ever appears when there are ghosts to fight." Danny's breath froze, and he growled silently to himself.

"I'm goin' ghost!" He whispered to his friends. He ducked into a side alley as the culprit made a show.

"Well then, girlie, we'll just have to remedy that, right?" Skulker, one of Danny Phantom's greatest nemeses, had his usual wonderful timing, and began chasing the living down the street. The Titans and the ghost hunters stood there ground, and took up position.

"Titans, go!" The five launched themselves into the fray already brewing between Skulker and Phantom, their target. Raven began clearing the humans out of the way, and protecting any stragglers from the stray missiles that missed any of the others. Of course, she wanted a piece of this robot ghost, too, so she threw anything handy and even returned a few of his wayward munitions.

The others had gone directly at the villain, hoping to divert any damage that may be done the lone super hero. Cyborg took up the rear, firing his Sonic Blaster to distract the mob of lesser spirits that seemed to have followed Skulker's raid on the living. Starfire was helping him in lessening their numbers, sending wayward shots at the main antagonist whenever she sensed her friends were in danger. Her glowing and hands, so reminiscent of a ghost's, were a fright to the spirits, as they knew it wasn't ectoplasma that radiated from her.

Beast Boy was taking a head-on approach – literally. As a T-rex, he had a naturally hard head, in addition to his usual stubbornness, and was using them both to his advantage. He often gave Robin a leg up if he needed a way to get into Skulker's way quickly.

Not long after the entire dispute began, a loud vehicle was heard. From above Raven's wall of black magic appeared the Fenton Mobile, in all its ghost hunting glory. Peeling rubber as it pulled a sharp turn, Maddie and Jack Fenton hopped out, guns a blazing. The entire battle stopped so they could simply gaze at the clowns, who were humorous, even in their seriousness. Then again, Jack's bright orange suit wasn't helping any first impressions.

Danny's friends took that opportunity to sneak attack the frozen ghosts. Tucker uncapped the thermos, and nabbed all the ghosts-minus Danny- and capped it before they could escape. Danny took the moment of confusion to flit behind them and return to normal, all before either of the opposing parties grew suspicious of their presence.

"Dude, where can I get one of those?" Beast Boy's mouth was open and drooling slightly. Robin, Raven, and Cyborg's eyes staring at them told them they were thinking other wise. They decided to first confront the ones with guns, though, as they were the more professional of the groups.

"You kids aren't hurt, right?" The woman in the blue jumpsuit approached them. "We can give you a ride back home, if you like." The teens glanced between each other, and then looked back at the ridiculously bright man.

"Son, that was some awesome ghost hunting! You'll be a great assistant one day!" Jack instead decided to approach his boy, and clapped him proudly on the shoulder, his thin shoulders almost buckling under the man's large hands. "You two did great, too. But why didn't you catch Phantom when you had him?" Danny winced, the unknown insult stinging.

"Sorry, my hands were kind of shaking, and I think Sam bumped me once or twice." Tucker said quickly, begging silently that no one had noticed Danny's reaction to that. Robin had, his eyes narrowing at the subtle flinch. As the mom in front of him was begging his attention, he turned back to her so that they could continue with their business.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we live very far away. I'm positive you don't wish to take us to the Pacific coast. We still have some business here anyways."

Maddie blinked, then nodded, her eyebrows furrowing. "Alright, if you guys are sure... Danny, are you going to come home with us?"

"No, mom. I think we're gonna hang out in the park for a little while. C'mon, let's go." They trudged past his father and into the green area beyond the road, already filled with families and people enjoying the day. The people here were all too used to the attacks, and with their hero, they had even less to worry about.

After the Fentons had departed, the Titans followed the three ambiguous teens. Starfire actually clasped a hand on Sam's arm. The goth turned around and, with a careful eyebrow raised and a voice full of doubt, greeted her. "Can I help you?"

Starfire, ignorant of the eyes now on her, smiled at her. "Yes, friend, I was worried. Are you in the aching pains anywhere? You were there throughout the fight."

Sam, seeing the honest green eyes, sighed, actually a bit relieved. Normally, people who were this blissfully ignorant grated on her nerves, but she had to appreciate this girl, not only for remaining so throughout her times, which were doubtless just as difficult as their own, but for also still being able to care about others. "We're fine. We normally get caught in frays like that anyway. Why do you think we carry ghost hunting weapons around with us?" Purple lips pulled back over white teeth, their owner's eyes gleaming with mirth.

Raven lowered her hood. "Because, you didn't run from that ghost. And I don't recall seeing you standing with them, either, Danny." She cast a glance at the nervous teen.

"Even the people of this town fled as fast as they could when they saw that ghost coming. So why didn't you?" Robin's voice was slightly accusatory, but not in a threatening way.

Thankfully, Tucker's obsession with electronics was swaying in their favor. His PDA rang out from his bookbag. He raised a solitary finger, and pulled it out. His eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline, and with its neatly trimmed boundary, that was an impressive feat indeed. "Uh, guys, we kinda forgot something…"

Danny jumped. "Oh shoot! Sam, we've got that protest of yours to do!"

"And we need to get there ASAP! Sorry, uh, Starfire! Maybe we can talk later. Right now, we really have to run." Grabbing their hands, Sam dragged her friends off down the previously evacuated street, in the same direction they'd been heading before the attack. Robin's masked eyes followed them down the street until they turned, lingering on the corner they turned at.

"That's alright, we'll be meeting again." _Danny Phantom, _he added silently.

That was their first meeting. Danny, who'd watched it with a sort of fondness, briefly thought over their few other encounters before this tribulation began. _I really must be spending too much time around them both, if I'm cussing AND using big, complicated words._

He wondered what the not-so-distant him would have thought if he saw himself in this position now, practically relying on Robin for safety. They'd been rather hesitant and neutral in their fights together, not hurting and helping minutely. Though, now that he thought of it, he'd trusted Robin with his secret when it became clear that their current blight wouldn't be ending on its own. That had been a pleasant conversation.

Ironically, it was the last they'd held before coming here.

Danny and Robin sat on a roof's edge, forebodingly the one they would soon reside in again as a refuge.

"So, are you going to admit you're Phantom, finally?" Danny blanched, though not much. He figured someone with the rep of being a great detective would've figured it out sooner or later.

"How'd you know? And I swear, if you say that I just outted myself, I'm going to leave you here and ignore you for a long time."

"Well, if you must know, I've had my suspicions since day one. I just grew more and more sure every time saw your two friends around during a fight, and you dubiously absent, though magically appearing after a confrontation and Phantom were gone. It wasn't a hard puzzle. How many people know?"

Danny tried to close his mouth before answering. Robin smirked. "You could gain a little from stealth."

That set Danny off. "I'm sorry I'm not a wannabe ninja, then. Only five people know, minus a few ghosts! How's that for stealthy, huh? Not even my own parents know!" Danny, on his feet, his arms crossed and his chest puffed out proudly, and smirked in return to Robin's earlier, only this one glowing more in the moonlight that shined directly in his face.

"I understand the reasoning behind a secret identity, but wouldn't it be a better idea to tell your parents. I'm sure that you get into plenty enough trouble; the life of a hero is bound by no bounds and has no limits. Or rather, it shouldn't be."

Danny's shoulders slumped, his confidence fallen, and he sank back into place beside the human. "My parents are ghost hunters, and although I know it's stupid to be scared-I am their son- I am. They say, almost every time they see 'Danny Phantom,' that they're going to tear him apart molecule by molecule. Would you really risk a few punishments for the instance that your own parents may attack you? And even if you would," he added as Robin opened his mouth, "I won't."

Robin had never had any parents, and never had to worry about punishments or their favor before Bruce came along. Out of respect and the knowledge that he really had no idea what Danny was truly going through, he kept his thoughts to himself. "Then why are you telling me? Logic states that you have enough reason to not tell, or rather, confirm my suspicions either."

"Like you said, you had already figured it out anyways."

"So, you're not scared at all?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then why are you scared?"

His companion took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Because you guys fight bad guys, and there are multiple official factions, including my own parents, that consider me as such. As I figured you guys more likely to follow the local authorities, you would also see me in the same way, despite any actions. What happens to those people you hunt down and jail? They either stay there a long time, or they escape, and you catch them again.

"Either way, my secret's toast."

The boy wonder sat back on his hands. "You've got me there. I would've been the first one to judge you on the authority. But after fighting with you, my opinion has changed." Standing, he hopped the edge of the two story building. The hotel they were using was off to the south side of town, and he wanted some sleep before dawn. "Go to sleep, Phantom." The question on Danny's tongue promptly died, and he watched silently.

When they woke up day it would be in a new world, with Danny rousing to the sound of Robin's voice calling his name.

"Danny! Hey, wake up! Danny!" Much like it was now…

* * *

><p>To Robin's immediate relief, Danny began stirring at his worried calling. It had been three days since they had escaped. As he had no way of getting the necessary nutrients into Danny's body, especially when he needed them for their fatigue, and the way that the halfa had been working himself, Robin feared he'd kill the still living half of himself.<p>

Unlike the normalcy, Danny's fatigue had forced a slow reverse to his human. _Probably to avoid shock_, Robin had supposed. Thanks to it, Danny's now opening eyes were their human, icy blue, his skin as pale as it normally was, with the snow white hair above it all. Though there was no natural light, his white hair seemed to emit a moonlight on its own, glowing much like it had that night on the roof. Though he wasn't overly sentimental, Robin fancied him some snow born child, and found himself staring.

Danny's groggy eyes blinked once, twice, many times before he zeroed in on his roommate. Something in his posture and mask - no eyes were visible as of yet - alluded to him being star struck or lost in thought or something. Robin always was a harder person to read.

"I'm the one who just woke up; why're you spacing out?" Danny hoped a joke would rouse him. Robin being lost in thought wasn't exactly a strange occurrence, but the way he was holding himself this time suggested something was wrong.

It succeeded. Robin's face went from awestruck to raging, though kept his voice to a whisper. It was a strike in his friend's face, setting the proper example of being 'quiet.' "I was worried, you idiot! Why'd you use that when you knew you wouldn't wake up for a while?" His voice was a harsh whisper, but loud nonetheless in their empty space.

If he was to be jumped, Danny had his hands at the ready. "Woah, how long was I out. Only a few hours, right?"

Robin resisted the urge to grind his teeth. "No, more like three days."

The mixed teenager sank into the bed. His eyes, a mix of horror and disbelief visible, were fixed on the shape of his legs underneath the blanket. "No way…" He breathed. "It's never lasted that long before."

Robin sat back; the ceiling wasn't as appealing as the person before him, but he would rather be bored than risk getting caught were he to start staring again. His heart had picked up a little, and he refused to acknowledge why. "Well, whatever it is that made you sleep longer than normal, I'd like to avoid it if at all possible. I don't know how your body works, but I was worried you'd finish yourself off; I had absolutely no way to safely get you to ingest the nutrients your body needs."

Danny looked at him strangely. "That's why you were worried? Because I wasn't eating or drinking?" He threw himself into the pillows. "Thanks, but you really shouldn't have."

Now it was Robin's turn to give a confused look. "And why not? You're human too. You need them just as much as I, or even as Cyborg and Starfire, do."

Danny shrugged, also looking up into the window. "I don't know. I guess it's because I'm already half way there. Being dead, I mean. Any ways, those rations are better used on you." Robin sat up suddenly.

"That's why you're saying don't worry? If you die, you have to leave this plane, right? You can only stay because you're half living, right? Do you really want to leave that all behind? Is that really a risk you're willing to take?" He was remembering now, but Robin knew his voice wouldn't stay this hushed whisper for long. "That is such transparent reason, do you have a death wish or something?"

"No, it's simply logic, and a risk we can't avoid. You said it yourself; you had no means of safely getting me to eat them, right? Even you have to agree. Or is your hero complex getting in the way?" While Danny spent his time snickering, Robin padded silently but quickly next to Danny's bed. With the raised fist he had, the boy wonder struck out at him. Though they had fought, Leia had always been there to buffer the actual violence. Without her, they could actually fight it out.

But that wasn't what Robin wanted this time. He'd hoped to take the literal meaning of that punch. Knocking some sense into Danny right now was important. "Don't ever snicker at the possibility of death. So many people will suffer if you just give up." Eyes flashed back to a time long ago, of a helpless child in an audience, watching as his parents fell to their deaths from faulty wires. "It doesn't matter who you are, what you do, or how others treat you; you will be missed."

The halfa's eyes stared at him, guarded, as he sank onto the bed and sat by his knees. Robin's eyes were fixed on the baby blue blanket that paled in comparison to the fiery ice that Danny seemed to wield naturally. "Are you one of those people, then, Robin?" Robin froze. Almost reluctantly - he'd face any challenge Danny could give him - he brought his eyes up to meet the subtle insinuation. His own stubborn nature met it head on, consequences be damned.

"You and I have been through a lot together these past few weeks. I know we won't come away from this unscathed; we're already scarred. Leia has been through things like this already, and will probably brush it off. We've already agreed on that. As much as we appreciate our friends, they won't understand what we've experienced here, no matter how many details we give them. We're all we really have. Losing you would not only hurt them all; it would make me lonely." Even as he said this, he subconsciously winced. Why was he spilling his guts? Honesty wasn't a bad thing, but this…

Danny took this all in as it came. "So, in short, you like me?" If Robin had been still before, he was a rigid glacier now. "I wouldn't be offended if you did, I've had a guy or two ask me out before*****. It's really no problem." Robin quickly vacated his seat.

"You're jumping to conclusions. We're companions, not… that." The decrepitude of that statement was enough to make even Robin give up on his own protests.

Now Danny seemed to be having fun with him. The grinon his face, lazy and cunning, raised a red flag or two. "You mean a couple?"

"Tha-that's under the assumption that you're right and that I'm ga-gay. Which I'm n-not." The protest was really weak and he knew it, but the thought had never occurred to him. Well, any sort of romantic had occurred to him, other than what he felt for Starfire. "At least, I don't think I am."

Starfire.

What would she say?

"Thinking about Starfire? Oh yeah, you have a thing for her, too, don't you? Don't worry, I won't tell on you." Did he like Starfire? In a more-than-friends kind of way?

Danny finally took notice of his counterpart's ashen face. "Hey are you alright? I didn't really mean any of that. Did it seriously work you up that much?" The concern in his voice registered in some part of Robin's brain that he wasn't occupying right now. "You know what? Forget I even mentioned her, okay?" He got up and approached the hero, who'd, in due course, turned his back on him.

He'd kissed her once, yes, but was there any romantic feeling behind it? Had it been something that sparked something in him, or was it just one of those bland kisses you got from a friend? No, it had been more out of relief, and the desire to make sure the other was safe. He admitted to himself that he liked her, he really did, but was it in a genuinely amorous way? It was, in way of a small crush, but he didn't think it was love.

Did that make him a homosexual, though? He'd never felt any sort of real attraction towards girls, but then again, neither had he felt any towards guys. He was too busy to worry about any sort of affiliation with anyone he wasn't working with.

Danny, now behind the ashen boy, laid a cautious hand on his shoulder, but got no acknowledgement that the other knew he was there. "Robin, seriously, forget it. I was only joking. You looked so stressed out, I wanted to make you laugh for worrying. I'm sorry for what I said about the not eating thing, too." As his words were decidedly useless, he decided to prompt a response by continuing. "But, you gotta admit, it's true. Anyways, if there isn't anything you can do to help me, you should've just managed as best you can. No use crying over spilt milk, right?" Even he knew his grin was weak, nervous, and timid, and that last statement was anything less than calm and collected. But, damn! Robin was not responding like normal, or even responding at all.

Unless it was somewhat true, about him being gay, and Robin was worried about him finding out about it, _and_ _I've really screwed up, haven't I?_

Robin finally came to the conclusion that he wasn't sure, but that there was a possibility. After all, he worked mostly with guys. And wore tights, he thought with a dry and desperate humor. Besides, this wasn't the place or time for an identity crisis. After he relaxed some, he noticed Danny's hand on his shoulder, and concerned blue eyes peering up at him from under a black mop of hair. Robin blinked behind his mask.

Danny was saying something about not worrying about what he'd said. To stop him from saying anything redundant, which he'd probably already done, he placed a hand over the other's mouth. "Listen, just don't worry about it. I was simply considering possibilities. I'd never thought of the possibility that I was… ho-homosexual. It's the first time anything of that sort has come along." His head was turned, so that no semblance of direct eye contact could be formed.

The halfa shook his hand off and took a step back. "So, you wouldn't be adverse to the idea? I didn't gross you out or anything?" With his head still turned, the boy wonder replied no.

"It's not disgusting; I just haven't thought of it before."

Danny tilted his head and looked off to the side, pondering his words for a moment. A mischievous light came back into his eyes. "Would you like to find out?"

"Huh?"

The teenager raised his shoulders in a shrug. "Well, it'll probably bug you for the rest of our time here, and we honestly don't need any distractions. Getting it out of the way now, how you feel about it, would put your mind to rest, right?" Danny was being logical, once again. Robin was staring directly at him; the idea was preposterous and downright incredulous, but he had a point.

Robin hated it.

The question was whether or not he was willing to find out about that part of him yet. The proposal was simply absurd, yet he found himself nodding anyways.

Danny had, again, been half joking, so the affirmation came as a surprise. His throat tightened, and he felt himself struggling for air slightly. "Okay, let's start small, then. You're really okay?" Another nod; Robin apparently didn't trust his voice.

Danny breathed deeply for a second, and then approached him. _What a time to have a revelation about one's sexual orientation._ Danny's last stab at mental humor was fleeting, but even then he quickly tried to rid himself of the thought. This was as good an opportunity as any to discover his feelings on the subject. He knew that he was probably bi, but this would confirm it. Those guys from before, while he had refused them, hadn't exactly grossed him out, and if there was a chance to find out without disgusting the other party, Danny would take it. He preferred girls, but that didn't mean guys were out of the question entirely.

Slowly, giving him time to protest, Danny slid his arms around the other's thin waist. He felt Robin tense, then slowly relax, after he'd finished encircling his slender frame with his arms, and actually wrapped his own arms around Danny, in a slightly awkward way.

Their chests were pressed together, slightly but solidly, so when either spoke, the vibrations rumbled throughout both boys' bodies. "So, how do you feel?" Danny asked. His eyes were closed in thought, and he realized that this wasn't so bad, having a person-even a guy-to hug. His hunch was right.

Robin sighed, content; it was comfortable in the warm embrace he very rarely shared with another person. "It's nice. I don't hug people very often; the warmth is new, and I really like it." He chewed his lip a bit. "Could we… stay this way for a little bit?" Danny stood, this time the one slightly dumfounded. Finally he settled to trying to draw him down onto the nearby couch, and just hugging him.

The only issue was, their position dictated they shift slightly, and if Robin wanted to remain _this_ warm, he had to sit on his- friend's? What were they now, anyways? - lap. Though he hesitated initially, Danny's warm embrace won over his abashment. No one else would see them like this anyways.

"Is this enough confirmation for you?" Robin just sat, wondering at that. Was it enough? Could he really believe he liked guys? The answer came in three letters. Yes, it was feasible. More than that, it was believable.

Robin turned his head to Danny. "Yeah, thanks." He then promptly returned his face to nose Danny's neck, and took in the repose the warm skin there offered; that was plenty enough excuse for the blush he found inexplicably on his face.

Danny's arms curled tighter around his waist, and brought them a little closer. "If you don't mind, could I ask you some questions? Were there any close calls towards this place while I was out, like any hollows coming near and sniffing around?"

"No. In fact, I've only heard a few off in the distance. Which is strange; I would've thought that they would've found us by now. I'm glad they haven't though."

The inquirer felt his eyebrows furrow. "Alright. What about Leia. Any word from them? As much as I dislike that fruitloop, I'd feel awful if he didn't make it out."

He chuckled, then became serious again. "No, I don't have any clue about those two." _He's too nice, worrying about even his _greatest_ enemy._ Robin shifted himself a little on Danny's lap. He eventually decided to just wriggle off his lap, and fixed himself in the crook of his arm. "What about those feisty words from earlier, about leaving him behind?" Danny shrugged, knocking into Robin's chin lightly. "I hope they're alright, but we should focus on getting to the root. I don't want to spend too much more time here. Who knows how our friends are reacting to this? Anyways, if anyone could handle surviving here, it's those two."

Danny gazed at the person who, a few minutes ago, had been beyond hesitant to even hug him, much less virtually cuddle. His hands were curled up on Danny's stomach, and he was breathing deeply. Danny figured him asleep, and drew a nearby blanket over the both of them.

For the course of what felt like a night, they remained like that; Robin sleeping, Danny watching. His three day hibernation left him enough energy to remain awake for a long while. Naturally, though, it had to come to an end.

The bays that Robin said he'd heard before started sounding closer. Danny quietly awoke Robin, and they vacated the apartment, grabbing their supplies before the fled. The sky, contrary to Robin's beliefs, was even darker than when they had last left. Instead of the dark greens and purples, the sky was swirled with a pure black and heavily dark plum.

"How do they keep finding us? We've been really quiet!" Robin whispered to Danny as they flew over the ruins of Amity Park; the sight, after three days, brought back Danny's rage at the state of his town.

"I have my ideas, something I've been thinking about since the factory. What if these creatures are after ectoplasm? That would explain how they found us every time."

Robin looked up at him; oh how he wished for his bike. "How'd you figure that out?"

Danny's brow was wrinkled as he looked down at his passenger. "Well, they were crawling," he suppressed a shudder, "all over my house, which has all sorts of ectoplasmic samples, either from me living there, or my parents' ghost hunting habits. The same with the factory. They had weapons there that contained the same type of energy. Then, whenever I'm conscious for substantial amounts of time, they always manage to find us. They must be tracking us because of me." Seeing Robin's mouth open, he hurried to cut him off. "I'm not saying I'm going to leave you; I'm just stating facts." That seemed to satisfy him. He landed them on a building; it had been the grocer's, until they'd come here.

Then he realized the implications of that statement. His face promptly turned red. "He-hey! I didn't- What're you-? Seriously?"

Danny laughed quietly to himself. "You have to admit, the idea appeals to you. I know it does me. Can you keep it down now? We're still not safe yet." Robin decided to settle the issue later; they had a lot of information they needed to find.

"So, what're we supposed to do? You can't exactly just get rid of your ghost powers. And we can't keep running. We're not accomplishing anything just wandering this town."

That gave them pause. What could they do right now? They'd figured out what it was, more than likely, that drew the creatures, and they knew that they should be avoided entirely, but they still had no answers as to what the barrier around the town was, nor any semblance of an idea of how to dispel it. And they still had to head back to his house. There was far more to this entire crisis than monsters running amuck.

Above him, Danny breathed a sigh. "It's not we have a choice." He said to himself. "Robin, you want to try heading back to my house?"

The teenager grimaced in response. "You read my mind." The next while - they still didn't have watches or anything - was spent watching the city zoom by underneath their feet. The area seemed so much darker, especially in the direction of Danny's house. The buildings were becoming less clear, and the entire town seemed to be fading.

Standing side-by-side, the two heroes stared forlornly in his home's direction. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin saw Danny begin to tremble finely again. They needed strength right now, especially Danny. Robin, to provide support, grabbed Danny's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. The halfa started in response, glanced down at their intertwined hands, then up at the owner of the hand that had attached itself to his. Said owner was wearing an uncustomary smile, tiny though it was, and Danny remembered his promise from their last journey to his home. They really couldn't lose, could they?

Robin nodded in the house's direction. Unspoken, Danny picked him up and flew off. It didn't take long, either by their pace or the fluffiness that seemed to have enveloped them, to reach the house. The crowd hadn't thinned at all. Danny settled them down onto the roof they'd settled on a few days previous; his eyes grew serious and he turned to Robin.

"Do you trust me?" Robin blinked; what was he getting at?

"Of course… With my life." Danny paused, then leaned towards Robin, who almost stepped back. He closed his eyes; he didn't want to see what the ghost boy was going to do, didn't want to see what he thought might have been coming. Gently, a pair of cool lips pressed to his forehead. Then, the ghost's presence disappeared from his side completely.

From his far right, Robin heard Danny's voice call out, loud and obnoxious like their first meeting, "HEY! HOLLOWS! COME AND GET ME! I'M FULL OF ECTO-GOODNESS!" The writhing, crawling beasts stopped, and then surged as one after the meal that had presented itself.

Robin, stunned, was unable to call after him until after he'd gone, by then too late. He hid himself from the torrent of creatures. Danny _would_ get his earful later, but for now, he would investigate the house.

The whole building was even less structurally sound than it appeared. The floor was eaten and crumbling away. The edges of the carpet around the hole were burnt, though by acid or fire, it was hard to tell. Below, Robin was treated to an overhead view of scientist's lab, complete with a metal finish. Instead of the stereotypical chemists bottles, though there were some of those, were many different types of tools and possibly weapons. He began to understand Danny's fear that his parents were after him. On the wall, among pictures of ghosts that he recognized and others that he didn't, was a photo of Danny Phantom, with marker scribbles and scorch marks, although the latter could have been from the beasts that had just vacated the area.

Robin dropped quietly into the room, old habits kicking in. Behind him, a set of stairs led back up to the door, which had been ripped off its hinges. Before him was a large, titanic door that was sealed shut, with many indentations that showed the abuse it suffered through at the hands of whatever had tried to get in. The remains of a red siren was attached to the top of the metallic frame.

To the side of the octagonal portal was a keyboard, two buttons reading 'on' and 'off' the only controls on the face. All the lights were dull, and Robin was thankful for the green goo on the floor. It seemed to emit a glow that, were it not present, Robin would have been troubled, as he used it to see. These puddles were everywhere, and seemed to be falling from pipes in the wall. The pipes were mainly wrapped around the gateway, and seemed to be directly linked to the thing.

Robin moved to the door and lightly rapped on it, once on each side, twice at the top and twice at the bottom. The door was thick, and it was a testament to the orcs' strength that they'd managed to damage it as much as they had. Now, Robin needed to get the door open, to see what lay beyond the door. For all they knew, it was a way home.

The boy wonder looked around for anything he could use to pry the doors open in lieu of a crow bar. As he tried to find a place the skinny metal gun he'd found could latch to, Robin's thoughts turned to Danny, who was presumably running around the town and trying to keep the orcs away from him. He hoped that the boy could keep himself safe, and that his endeavor wasn't put to waste. The doubt was there, though, lingering on the edges of his mind, and Robin focused on the project at hand, so that he could ignore the nagging whisper that spoke his fears.

At some point or other, the gun caught, and Robin began pulling as hard as he could at the makeshift crowbar. He felt the door give after a few futile minutes of heaving; a cool breath of air whispered out of the crack. The gun, after losing tension, flew out of Robin's hands and back towards the wall, startling the figures that had just descended.

Robin immediately flew into a battle-ready stance. He was charging them before he'd even caught sight of them. However, just as his hand would have connected with his opponent's face, his hand flew through it, as though sailing through air, and his body followed. To catch himself, Robin kicked off, and back flipped several times, finally stopping when his back was pressed to the wall.

The figure he'd almost sent flying clapped slowly. "Impressive reflexes, my boy. But perhaps you should check who you're trying hit before actually manage a punch, hmm?" Plasmius' whitish glow added to the list of eerie sources of light. Behind him stood Leia, who was supporting an exhausted Danny.

"Danny!" Forgetting the door he'd just had success with, as well as the obnoxious man who he despised, Robin got over to his friend's side as fast as he could. The boy halfa was scratched and half-unconscious, but upon seeing his cohort so ecstatic, he managed a tug of his lips.

"Hey…" He said, before he collapsed, falling right into Robin. Unprepared for the weight addition, both boys were sent sprawling. Leia simply let them lie there; moving Danny could be dangerous. Vlad looked curiously at the two, but said nothing. He could see the change in their mannerisms, and thought it best not to inquire. He would never understand teenagers.

"I sent a clone of mine to run the beasts around. We have about fifty minutes before it runs out of juice, so whatever you're trying to do, we need to do it fast." Robin still detested the man, but he agreed anyways. Anything to get them, and more particularly, Danny, out of this mess.

"I'm trying to get that portal open. I managed to crack it, but-" Danny's body was obviously too tired to keep his ghost form up, and retired to his human form. Robin took the chance to sit up, and cradled Danny's form half in his lap. "I don't know what's on the other side." He continued.

Leia nodded, then trudged over to the door. An array of autumn colors surrounded her, then vanished. Her formerly lithe figure was shaded over with a layer of fur, in stripes of orange and black. Her blond hair darkened and became less tamed, with streaks of the aforementioned tints. A growl fell from her lips, and fangs flashed at the males as she grasped one of the doors, tugging at the lip. Her T-shirt, now slightly ripped around the abdomen and arms, showed the lean and rippling muscle as she fought the stuck door.

Eventually, with a hideous screech that had all able covering their ears, the door gave way. What they saw was not what the two halfas were expecting.

It was like a skyward window looking down upon the town they were currently in, though it was a fully functioning civilization. Danny struggled to his feet, with Robin at his side helping him. Before they could do much more than process what was beyond the window, a male flew up to greet them.

His hair was a platinum blond, a great deal different from Leia's warm shade. His eyes were white, and angry. He could almost have been an elf; his ears were so large and protruding. What helped this assumption was his slim figure. Even though he was wearing a thick, dark cloth, what skin he did show was pallid, and his hands, neck, and face, all uncovered and long, were an attest to his truly sinewy size.

He smiled, but the malice behind it was almost enough that it could be called a sneer. "I see you managed to get out. Unfortunately, I can't allow it just yet." He waved the large scythe at his side across their doorway, and Leia had to jump back to avoid being carved into two pieces. Robin returned his fury.

"The hell're you playing at? We need to get one of us to a hospital! Let us through!" His statement came too late. The temporary way home was closed. The doorway showed a little backroom that was lined with high technology that Cyborg might've found amazing, if they ever got out of here.

Plasmius sighed. "We have thirty minutes on my clone. But surely you heroes are relieved, knowing that Amity Park hasn't actually become a zoo. You even know who caused it. So, what're you going to do now?" Leia was slowly shifting back to her human form.

Danny growled, and shook away the daze he must've been in. "Find a way out. We have no more obligations. I don't think there are any other people here; I think that most everyone is safe and accounted for in the real town. It's a risk, but I don't think we have many other choices. I don't know if there are any other portals in town, so maybe we should head to the edge of town. It's better, at least, than staying here." His tirade over, he felt his knees weaken, and fell back to his knees. Robin, by his side, followed him.

Robin frowned at him. "You were only flying, why're you so tired?"

His passenger visibly gulped. "Well, some of them got too close. I ghost wailed them away. It tires me out. Thankfully," here Danny winked at Robin, "these two came to my rescue."

Robin's mask narrowed. "We're discussing this entire thing later."

Vlad blinked between the two. They certainly hadn't seemed so close the last time he'd seen them together. Danny was almost, dare he say, _clinging_ to Robin, and the boy was holding him close in response. He grinned to himself, sure that his fangs were showing. "Well, isn't this an interesting development. Daniel, I never knew you, oh what was it that young people say these days, played for the other team? Yes, that was it. I wonder what your friends and family would say to that, hmm?"

Leia looked at the amused face of Vlad, then the shocked and angry ones on the two that were kneeling. What was going on?

Vlad then smirked to Robin. "Trust me, young man, I know love when I see it. What about the little badger here has you so entranced?" He then turned to his travel companion, who'd remained stiff throughout their life-threatening endeavors, and saw her brows furrowed slightly.

"What's wrong, my dear?"

She glanced at him. "What does it mean to play for the other team? I don't think any sort of literal example applies here, am I correct?"

Vlad blinked, his smile growing wider at the chance to further humiliate the boys. "It means that these two like boys instead of girls, like they should."

Her brows unfurrowed. "Is that all?"

"Yes." She wasn't reacting correctly. "It doesn't bother you?"

"No. Love is love, in my book. Does it really matter whether it's between two guys, two girls, or a guy and girl. If that is really a criterion for you humans, then I pity you; there are many more people you guys could love if you removed this limit." She turned and jumped up through the hole.

"Hey, where're you going?" Danny called after her.

"I'd rather not be here when Vlad's clone dies." She responded, the simplicity of her intent demanding no more words. Vlad shrugged and followed, though not before smirking at the two still on the floor.

At this point, they only had twenty minutes; Robin figured that wasn't enough time for Danny to recover. He heaved the injured halfa onto his back.

Though he was too tired to physically protest, and aside from the fact he wasn't really complaining, Danny still had some issues with their current situation to voice. "What're you doing? Get one of the adults to carry me; don't strain yourself!"

Robin smirked at the lame words. "No, I want to be the one to carry you. You're not even that heavy. Something about your ghost form makes you really light." Really light. Robin had had to constantly check before, when moving them into their central hideout, that he wasn't just carrying air.

Danny felt his face heat up against his wishes. Vlad's words began floating back to him as they joined the others above ground and pushed off. "Was Vlad right?" He whispered; Robin's ear was in a rather convenient location.

Robin repressed a shudder at the cold words on his ear. "About what?" He asked vaguely.

Danny nearly huffed, but decided the question was a reasonable one. "About you liking me. Was he?"

"Those weren't his words."

"F-fine then. Do you love me? E-entranced, to use his words?" Danny hoped his carrier took the stuttering for him being tired. It really wasn't the time to be getting lost in daydreams.

_He grabbed the wrong words. _"Not completely. There is something, but I'd rather not take the time to examine it right now. Enchanted? What could he have meant by that? I meant the 'they like boys instead of girls.'" Robin was having fun torturing him; it was step one of Danny's punishment for worrying him and leaving without discussion.

Danny found himself chewing on his lower lip. This was the frankest Robin had been with him on the subject since he unintentionally came out, and even then he wasn't coming straight out about it. He laughed inwardly at the irony. Last time, it had been Robin stuttering and Danny had been the calm voice of reason. Now the roles were completely reversed.

Well, almost. Danny was still tired and injured. Looks like his three day nap had worn off.

Up ahead, Vlad paused, then slowed to Leia's side, whispered something to her, then moved back to their lot.

"You should really consider flying. By the way, my clone's dead." He left them behind, speeding back up to Leia's side.

To divert the topic, Robin brought his charge's attention to the pair before them. "Think maybe Vlad likes her?"

Danny raised his head from Robin's shoulder to look at them. "No, but I think he may be using her to get over mom. I have been telling him to do so for years; he's just never found the right girl. Leia's probably better than most; she won't try to make a move on him. She's completely neutral in that regard."

"But that doesn't mean he's going to give up, right?"

"You're avoiding the question, Robin." Danny deadpanned.

"No, I'm simply avoiding the answer. After all, it can wait." The building's below were becoming sparse, and they began seeing more land than concrete. Here, the sky seemed the same shade as it had towards the beginning. It also wasn't as dark as they had been growing accustomed to.

If he squinted, Robin could see where the edge of their plane met the ground. When they got close, he could see the darkness from above them meet the ground in a swirling fog, which was only a few feet high. The group was wary of touching it, though.

With a yawn, Danny scooted a little farther up Robin's back. "What now?"

Leia reached into her bag. "I have a little remote control car and a camera we could use."

The others stared at her. "And why, my dear, do you have those?"

She shrugged. "My bag has many things in it." She paced the vehicle on the floor, and settled the camera in the cabin where, had it been a little kid playing with the car, dolls may have sat. The controller, which obviously ran on battery power, was the next thing to be fished out of the bag, a screen tablet following shortly after.

"Well, you certainly seem prepared." Danny remarked. He wondered if there was anything else that they could use in the bag.

Leia shrugged once more as the camera and tablet finished syncing up. Wordlessly, she took up the remote to the car, and drove it into the smog, with no small amounts of trepidation from her comrades.

They crowded around the tablet, Danny still leaning heavily on Robin and Vlad breathing over her left shoulder. The camera showed them a world filled only with the dark, ominous smog. As it presumably got farther and farther away, the colors began changing. Green shifted into yellow, and the purple grew until it was black. The swirling colors began making the viewers sick, as the colors reminded them of something less than pleasant.

Finally, the car emerged into a dark alley, as the yellow faded back into a sickly green that the black met it at. Before the car had made it more than a few feet, though, both it and the camera stopped functioning, and the image they were receiving died away from the screen. Robin estimated that the location the car had broken down in was fifty yards away, and inquired about the quality of the vehicle.

"It's a nice one I got from overseas. The Japanese are known for their ability with electronics, are they not?"

"I don't doubt it." Robin grunted; he was remembering his last trip to Japan, and the dangerous electronics he'd encountered there. "I doubt it broke down where it did just because it could. Something about that fog probably messed it up. Which means it isn't a good idea to risk our lives; if a machine was destroyed, then who knows what it would do to a living or half-living person." He added as Vlad opened his mouth. The elder halfa nodded in placation.

Leia sighed. "I'm getting rather tired of this place and all of these dead ends. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll be leaving this place until that half-elf says we can."

Danny nodded. He almost felt well enough that he could stand on his own. "Then maybe we should figure out what he could want. After what we saw, I highly doubt that he's after Amity Park's destruction. So, maybe he's after a smaller, more specific target? What could he be looking for, that he had to remove the town's hero and multiple others to accomplish it? Most villains are confident enough in their abilities to think they're strong enough to avoid the hero. Take Vlad here for example: he very rarely tries to take me out before heading towards his goal."

"Hey!"

"That means this guy is either fairly rational, and takes the fact that you're a threat very seriously, or has some ulterior motive for getting us out of the way." A thought came to Robin. "We all are pretty much in agreement that we're the only people here, right? You think maybe he wants us out of the way for my team?"

"For objective's sake, why would he want your team, but not you?"

"Aside from me, a human who's only redeeming features are his above human strengths and background, I have a half-robotic, half-human as my second-in-command, an alien princess who has caused several inter-galactic conflicts, a mutant that can change into any animal that he wishes, and a half-demon who has the power and means to end the world, and has nearly done so on one occasion. Not that that was her fault, but the point in case being that she can. All have the potential of being either strong allies or-" Here Robin regretted his cold cut mind. "-potential test subjects.

"Cold truths aside, there is plenty of reason to want to recruit one or more of them, and either the leader or the local hero who may or may not recognize them would endanger that endeavor, so it would make sense to remove the hazards entirely from the situation."

Vlad nodded. "Okay, so we know why you two are here, but that doesn't explain us two, who could, at best, be considered neutral. Unless, Leia did you do anything out of a neutral norm?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Nothing? You didn't help anyone, or do anything that may allow someone to mistake you for a protagonist?"

Leia looked up in thought. "I did guide some kids around Amity, since they seemed lost. Is that really enough for that man to send me here, though?"

Vlad shrugged. "Either that, or you just happened to be nearby when he cast the spell. Now, I haven't done anything to warrant him thinking of me as any sort of exemplar, so we are at a loss as to why I am here."

Leia narrowed her eyes at him. "Would he really make the same mistake twice?"

"We know nothing of his abilities other than he can control these dimensions and that he may be able to fly. Anything else is fair game at this point." Robin was seething slightly at the potential reasons he may be here for. If his team was in danger, he needed to get back!

At this point, the only support Robin had to give Danny was an arm around his waist, but even that small contact was enough to tell that Robin was tense, more than likely thinking about his team. Danny's thoughts followed along the same line. He hoped that if all their guesswork was correct, his family and friends were all safe. He hoped that that elf kept himself hidden, once they got back. If they got their hands on him, there'd be hell to pay. Having two superheroes, and two other super-powered people, all ticked at him, was going to come back and bite him in the ass.

"Have any of you noticed how we seem to be lacking adversaries of any shape and/or form? It's rather unnerving." Vlad was glancing suspiciously at the sparse trees, as though a bunch of hollows were going to suddenly appear.

"I wouldn't stress, if I were you. Maybe those creatures know this wall is dangerous and just avoid it out of instinct. If we had known any better, I'm sure we would have, too."

For some reason, Robin felt a pending headache.

_ROBIN!_

A loud, familiar voice pounded in his head. There was the headache. "Raven?" The others turned to look at him.

"What about the girl, boy?"

_Robin! Friend Robin! Dude!_ The voices of his other three missing friends rang out to him, and judging from their shocked reactions, the others had heard it as well. "Are those…?"

Robin nodded sharply. _Guys, can you hear me?_

_Friend Robin, I am relieved that you are alright!_ Starfire's voice brought Robin minor chest pains, as he still felt slightly guilty about his discovery.

_Yeah man, we been looking for you for three days, where you been? _Cyborg's atrocious grammar brought a smile to Robin's lips.

_Three days? I, as well as three others, have been trapped in some sort of Amity Park parody for at least a month. _Robin paused to wonder at that. _Maybe there is a difference in the passing of time? _He thought to himself.

_It's possible._ Raven's calm voice cut the sobbing he could hear at the back of his mind. _A parody of Amity, you say? Maybe you're in some kind of other dimension. That could explain why I had trouble locating you. Who are the others? _

_Danny Fenton, Vlad Masters, and Leia Sol. I suspect the public is missing the first two; Leia's pretty introverted. _

_The public is missing you too, birdie boy._ Raven's voice was wry. _Now that I have a fix on your location, I can bring you home. We've already apprehended the culprit; you guys can confront him later. Unfortunately, I can't say exactly where you'll end up, so keep your communicators handy. They are still working, right?_

_Of course they are! Those things are made to last forever, no way they'd die from a month in some ghost town! _Cyborg obviously had a lot of confidence in his inventions, and Robin really wasn't in the mood to deter him. He was a bit far off the mark, though. All the same, an affirmation from this side was necessary.

_Yeah, they work. I suppose we'll be seeing you soon then?_ As Danny grinned at him, Robin felt the prompting the halfa was practically shouting._ And Cyborg? We're in a town full of monsters. _You're_ the one in a ghost town._

_See you soon, Robin._ Raven sounded mildly irritated. What was that about?

_Yes, friend Sam and friend Tucker have been worried sick about friend Danny. We shall all see you soon._ Robin felt more than heard the connection cut.

"So that's it, then, we're done? This accursed journey is over?" Vlad stared in disbelief at the town that they were suddenly leaving behind. He almost couldn't believe it.

"Yeah. About time, too. First thing I'm doing when I get home is hugging my family." Danny said without any sort of prompting.

Robin threw him a curious glance. "What brought that on?" He hadn't expressed any sort of homesickness since they'd gotten here, not any that Robin could remember.

The boy half-shrugged; he was clinging to Robin more for comfort than the need for support. "Don't know. Guess I didn't start missing them till they were in reach. But damn do I miss them now." Vlad shook his head at his vulgar language.

"And what will your friends and family say about such language."

Danny and Robin looked slightly abashed. "Well, we'll try to tone it down. But I think they'll understand; spending about a month in this hell would change almost everyone. Leia or people like her are the only exceptions."

Vlad looked dubious. "I'm under the impression that that number doesn't include me."

"Nope." Danny popped the 'p'. "You've changed, too. I doubt you're aware of it yet, though. Here's some advice: once we're out of here, take the time to take a good long look at yourself. I'm sure you'll notice it." Danny and Robin snickered; only they knew what they were talking about.

"Why do I have to find it when you can just tell me?" The two started laughing harder. A grown man was whining about something two teenagers not even half his age had told him.

"Because, the effort will make the reward that much more pleasant. And I think it's about time for a serious self-evaluation, Vladdy." At this point, the two were on the ground and on their knees.

There was more thing Danny needed to tie up before they left. . "Oh Leia, remember that favor you owe me?"

The girl nodded.

"Well, you can pay it back by keeping me and Robin a secret. I don't want anyone knowing just yet. I know you don't have the same concepts as us humans so I just wanted to make sure you knew."

"And what of me? I owe you no favors."

Danny looked wary, but shrugged in a what-can-you-do way. "I'm confident that, if you still like my mom even a little bit, you won't tell her. It would stress her too much just after her son was returned to her." The older halfa reluctantly agreed with the reasoning. No point in giving Maddie a heart attack with the news that her son had suddenly started playing for the other team2. Both boys breathed a sigh of relief.

In an instant, something felt wrong. A massive pressure settled itself on the shoulders of the four people present. Instinctively, Danny snatched Robin's hand. The glance they shared told them they understood what was happening.

They were heading home. Raven had found them.

Judging from the looks on the other two, they had come to the same conclusion. Before anymore than a silent word or two could pass between them, they found themselves falling. Robin felt comforted by the recognizable darkness; Raven's was the only darkness that he felt comforted by, other than night.

Hazily, Danny noticed the other two drifting away. He noticed that their linked hands were the only things keeping him and Robin together. He tried to pull the other near him, but felt all his strength abandoning him. Finally, the calm of his partner washed over him, and he felt himself drifting into dreamland.

* * *

><p>******Danny woke, groaning and muttering curses, to find the sun in his face.<p>

Wait, sun? Was he imagining this?

No, it really was the sun! They were home! Or, as he looked at the unfamiliar, soft grasses, at least back on earth.

His exhaustion and pains forgotten, Danny sat up to rouse his neighbor, only to find the tell-tale signs that he was awake. First off, he was looking directly at Danny, no discretion for the mask otherwise. Secondly, he was smiling, big and beautiful, up at him.

"Lay back down, doofus, they're on their way. Chill out and watch the clouds." He sighed, his relief at finally being back almost overwhelming the control he had over his reaction.

Danny, for his part, fond it hard to contain the absolute joy he felt at being able to go home and be safe. It eventually got to the point that he just had to express it to his companion, though he already knew what he was feeling.

In the end, his emotions manifested themselves in a kiss, straight on Robin's lips. The receiver froze, then settled for rolling his hidden eyes at his friend's enthusiasm. He returned the kiss only slightly, his sun-warmed, cracked lips making Danny feel better than anything he'd done in a long while. The response really made his day.

Finally, after breaking the kiss, Danny felt he'd relieved enough of his exalted emotions that he could settle and do as his friend suggested.

"Hey, Robin, are we still friends? Or could I call us a couple, at least in private?"

Robin shrugged from beside him. "I don't think we could call each other anything else at this point. After all, you just kissed me." Neither boys could find it in themselves to even blush at the blatant admission of their kiss.

As they simply basked in the warmth of a sun he hadn't felt in a long time, Robin found himself comparing their kiss to the one he'd shared with Starfire, back in Tokyo. They were similar, though the environments couldn't have been more opposing. Tokyo had been a bleak, storming mess, while his current location was bright and sunny and warm.

In the same way, he found the kisses different. Robin, though not normally sentimental, felt that there was something more to the one he'd shared with Danny. The one with Starfire hadn't really gone anywhere, but already he and Danny felt like a couple.

The tall grasses around them swayed with the light breezes, and Robin decided to stop comparing them. One was in the past, where it would probably stay, and all he needed to worry about just then was the person beside him and getting home.

Danny slowly absorbed the place they'd landed in. Very rarely did he see such untouched land, so he was going to take every chance to memorize it. There were a few small farmhouses nearby, but the area was largely untouched by civilization. He could see a few trees here and there, and a brook flowed from somewhere above his head, but he saw mostly a bunch of tall, green grass. He wondered where they were, but didn't want to bother his partner, as he was probably appreciating this chance at peace. Danny knew he was.

The whistling of an aircraft started sounding closer. Both boys sat up; it might be their friends.

Their supposition was right. The T-Ship was on its way, with a modified center that allowed for two people rather than one. Inside it was Sam and Tucker, their hands and noses pressed against the glass. The two waited for the ship to land before they approached it, though they barely got halfway before the six teens had surrounded them. There was much jeering and hugging before the two travelers called for a bit of breathing room.

Danny, in his human form, took the chance to crouch down and cradle his abdomen. It was still rather sore, and Cyborg's pat on the back had reminded him of the pain.

"Hey, dude, are you okay?"

Robin glanced up at the green-skinned boy he'd missed, though he wouldn't be admitting that anytime soon. "Yeah, we're just beyond tired. Tell you what, how about we get us home, get some rest, and then tell you all about what happened. Deal?"

"Yeah, you guys probably want a break. You look horrible." That was Sam, frank as always.

"Where are we?" Danny asked weakly. He doubted anywhere so untouched by time was in America, the land of advancements.

Tucker pulled up his PDA. "According to my GPS, we're somewhere in rural Germany." He glanced around. "I couldn't live here, but it's really calm, don't you agree?" Despite their wishes for room, the others clung to the two travelers until both were safely on the ship and on their way home.

There was another addition to the T-Ship, as Robin soon found out; an extra cabin underneath the main one, perfect for a few passengers that couldn't fit in the compartments above. Raven absolutely refused to let Robin anywhere near the controls, and was herded, to Danny's amusement, down into the cabin where they sat for the four hours it took to get back to Amity Park.

Danny and Robin took the opportunity to doze lightly. They'd decided it was too risky to discuss anything of importance while the others were nearby, but they had decided to discuss it later. Danny finally got that talking to that Robin had promised him.

By the time they'd gotten home, it was past twilight, and the extra passengers were exhausted. Waiting with the small crowd at the Fentons' house was Leia, her face blank, though slightly warm when it found them. With a nod, she pulled out of the crowd. A few minutes later, she was gone.

Danny did make good on his promise. The family was surprised of the show of affection, but didn't reject it. The dark Titan had warned them about the possibility of a time difference, so the time between when Danny had lat seen them, and when they'd last seen Danny could have been significantly different.

Jack Fenton was being particularly loud about his inquiries of the two teens, maybe to hide the fact that he too had been worried about Danny's safety, though he'd often proclaimed he'd though the boy good enough survive on his own. It took a loud yawn from Danny's mouth to convince him that the interrogations could wait a while. From what they could gather, after their disappearances, the Titans had been staying with the Fentons in an effort to maximize the effort to find them. Robin and Danny were allowed to stay in the same room, both for their sake and because a lack of room couldn't dictate otherwise. In each other's presence, the boys found sleep easier than they had for a month, and even more difficult to wake up at Maddie's prompting the next morning. The tension had finally evaporated.

Robin was teased profusely for his unwillingness to get up, though it was more out of a hope for normalcy than it was literal; Robin wasn't sure about Beast Boy, though. Starfire found herself getting up to hug them often, apologizing profusely. At one point, Danny swore he'd seen a tear on her face, though it may have been the light.

"Why is Star saying sorry so much?" Danny whispered to Sam over breakfast.

She looked at the girl, then shook her head. "Turns out, the reason why you guys were sent there was because of her. I suppose she feels bad about it, even though it isn't her fault. She's too sweet for her own good."

"What gave her that idea?"

"Well, the guy who sent you there apparently had this crush in her. After Raven felt you guys yesterday, she confronted the man, and under Starfire's pleading gaze, he told the truth. They're currently holding him somewhere, and I think you can go talk to him in after we finish up here. So eat up." Though he continued the meal, he whispered the entire conversation to Robin, who was at his right. The boy wonder nodded, then looked at Starfire.

He didn't feel the least bit jealous after hearing what Danny had to say to him, and that just gave him more confirmation about his decisions about Danny. However, it still didn't make much sense as to why they had been sent away. Himself, he could understand, but reason could he have for taking away the other three, too? Robin hoped the upcoming confrontation would prove fruitful.

Maddie, convinced that the two were underfed - it wasn't that far from the truth - kept piling food in front of them, so inevitably the confrontation was postponed. Finally, by the time the sun was high in the sky, the group was off towards where the culprit was being kept. Walking down the street drew lots of attention, and people Danny thought had despised him kept coming up to say 'Hi, I'm glad you two are okay' and the like. Even Dash and Paulina came up to them, though Dash still got a hit in before he departed. Robin subtly glared after him, but Danny shushed him before he could do much more.

"He's a bully, what can ya' do?" Robin obeyed, but only because the others were getting away.

They eventually arrived at the local jail, and were led down to where the more serious criminals were kept. Inside a hidden room was the man they had glimpsed through the pseudo-portal. He raised his head, then smiled when his eyes landed on Starfire. She waved and smiled sadly back.

"Starfire, what troubles thee?" His eyes peered innocently at her. He didn't act as though he were any sort of trouble. However, there were subtle signs that showed his shame, to those who were looking for it.

She stepped towards the bars. "Emir, now that my friends are here, could you please explain why you sent them away. They need to hear your reasoning."

He nodded, glancing quietly at the two he recognized from the other dimension he'd made. "I sent them away because they were in my way. I was worried that if I was to properly court you, these two would get in the way."

Robin's gloved hand-he was back in his usual attire- tightened around the bar to the prison. "I can understand me, but why send Danny there? And what about the other two people we found trapped there?" His voice, while low, was simmering with fury at the fact that they'd been trapped there over a petty jealousy.

This was obviously news to the elf-Emir. "Two others? I only intended to send you two. The young halfa here because he seemed fond of milady also. Were the two in the background not the beast that resides in my portals?"

Danny's head also met the metal bars. The others turned to him. "I like her because she reminds me of my sister, idiot! I don't like her, at least not in that way."

Starfire teared up a bit. "You don't like me?" Robin felt a sense of déjà vu.

Danny was quick to refuse. "No, I do like you, just not like a…a… whatever Emir likes you as." He felt himself blush at the stumble. He wasn't sure how to explain the complexities of human society to the fragile alien girl; he doubted many could.

"Same here. Star's more of a sister and best friend than she is of dating material. She's too sweet." Robin winked over to his left, though whether it was aimed at Starfire or himself, Danny couldn't be sure.

Emir, for his part, looked shocked. "So then, not only did I trap two people more than I intended, my powers were used for no reason?" The teens nodded.

"Perhaps you could be so kinds as to tell us something else, then. What were those monsters in the town, and why did everything begin to change towards the end of our time there?"

"The 'monsters' you speak of have no name in my culture; they are simply beings that wander in and out of the verse I sent thee to. I have no control over what happens inside the dimensions I make; I can only control what the inside looks like. As for the change, I presume thee meant the growth of darkness?" A nod. "That means that thy time there was going to end soon. That was the time I had to keep the field standing. I was confident in my abilities to woo my lady by that time. I ensured that there was enough provisions, though I presume that wasn't enough. I apologize sincerely; my powers are unpredictable, even with the amount of time I put in to control them." Emir hung his head, waiting for the teens to say something.

Robin stewed, letting the man think a little on his own. "You do realize that you endangered four, possibly more people with your actions, right?" A grunt in the positive. "What would you be willing to do repay the troubles you caused us?" The entire roomed looked at the titan in wonder. Robin was either being far more benevolent or far crueler than normal.

Emir answered anyways. "Anything that you see fit will be acceptable. I see now the error of my ways. I truly intended no harm, I only wished the proper chance to court. If you are any sort of willing to forgive me, then I will take it."

Danny looked at Robin, who caught his gaze. The halfa shrugged. "Well, you didn't cause my town any trouble. In fact, you tried to comfort Star in our absence, right?" Starfire vigorously nodded her head. "The only harm came to four people who were pretty capable of handling it; in fact, one of the others has already returned to her life before this entire thing happened. I agree, some punishment is called for, but I don't think it has to be anything to severe, right Robin? He was doing it on mislead conceptions."

Robin turned to stare at the elf who was staring at the floor with hard eyes. "You must work with the local police in Jump city, and assist them and us with any criminals, for three years. Any straying from this and you'll be banished from earth; I have friends who can guarantee this, so don't test them. You will have a guard to make sure you don't disobey these orders. Other than that, you're free. You'll be starting immediately; we'll be returning shortly." A pause and then an afterthought. "You'll also be training with Raven to get those powers of yours under better control."

Emir's mouth was slightly ajar, but he quickly began to thank Robin abundantly for his light consequence. He then approached Starfire, who looked happier than anything else, and the two had a quiet talk.

Knowing it was safe to do so, Cyborg clapped a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Spending so much time with Danny must've softened you up, man. You haven't gone totally lenient on us, right?"

"No, this case is special. And it was Danny's call; this _is_ his town." As the group left with the freed elf, Robin turned to Danny.

"The whole reason we came here was to investigate Danny Phantom. I've spent the last month around him, fighting alongside with him, and find him a worthy companion and ally." The rest of the teens looked at them; there was no one but them to here this, so Danny's secret was safe to be spoken so openly about. "Here is a communicator; we'd like to offer you a position as an honorary Teen Titan. You'd stay here, we'd just be able to contact you were we in need of your help."

Sam clung to Beast Boy^ in a desperate manner. "C'mon Danny!"

Tucker, with his "brother in everything" Cyborg^^, also stood silently cheering him to accept.

Danny eyed Robin mischievously. "Well, I'd find it hard to go too long without hearing your obnoxious voice, so why not? I'll be a titan. Quick question, do I have to leave when I hit twenty?" That brought a laugh from the sidelines, and Danny took the opportunity to whisper in Robin's ears. "How else are we going to keep in contact, sweetie?"

Robin simply lunged at him.

Omake

On an unnamed island in the Caribbean, only about a mile around, stood a lone ghost.

Actually, half ghost would be the more accurate term.

"Fudge sundaes! I hope those frosted kids haven't forgotten about me!" Plasmius roared. Unfortunately, the only beings to hear his angry rant were the crabs that wandered the beach. One decided now was as good a time as any to cause the loudmouthed human to shut up.

The ghost was sent running down the beach, the devilish crab still stuck to his toe. He would be rescued two days later by a few locals who were riding their boat near his island. He was sent home two days after that, when the locals found the strange vampire too much to bear.

_~Fin~_

*Yes, I believe that Danny is slightly taller, as being an acrobat like Robin requires a small and more petite physique. And if not, Danny's build looks blockier in the shows.

**Yes, I couldn't resist. But it really is what I see half the time when I picture them. The bat-like ones that chased Robin earlier were like hollows without holes.

***Sorry if this offends anyone, it's just my personal view on 'The End.'

**** In this fic, this happens before 'Phantom Planet' simply because I need Danny's secret identity to remain as such. It would follow shortly, minus the kiss with Sam, though she doesn't miss it at all.

*****Got to give the VladDan and DashDan fans their credit.

******Right about here, I got so hyper and happy about this story that if it seems kinda half-assed, you can blame it on my euphoric high. I took a dancing break, but nothing could dull the joy that I felt about getting the story this long. I hope you all enjoyed it!

^Sam and Beast Boy are pretty similar, both are vegetarians and love animals. Both also argue with their respective carnivore. The two below are even more so.

^^Aren't they similar? Both love meat, both are electronic obsessive, both argue with their respective vegetarian… I couldn't resist putting that in.

Note: I can't always guarantee such long oneshots; I was just feeling particularly inspired with this one. But damn! How did it get this long? My last story was 5k+, and this one is 23k+! Talk about leaps and bounds!

**Note(2): This is my first yaoi, so tell me how it went.**

I have a favor to ask of you readers. What was your opinion of the story? Were they in character or out? Did you see that coming? Did any of you catch the hints? Do you want to see another story with everyone else's side to this event? What can I improve on? I want honest opinions, as I want to improve as a writer. Lastly, did you enjoy my story?

In all honesty, this story wrote itself. I just kept getting so many awesome ideas, and incorporating them, that the only thing that really were planned from the get-go was DannyxRobin/RobinxDanny (either way works), the alternate dimension, and the Starfire's affections war (not really a war).

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